I’m attempting my last 3 California 14’ers this summer. After that I plan to turn my attention to Rainier, and then the balance of my Colorado 14’ers. If I finish this up how small a club would I join? 100? 1,000?

In Colorado bagging 14’ers seems to be quite a popular pastime. I’m guessing there maybe thousands of people who may have bagged them all? Here in California most people don’t even know what a 14’er is outside of Mt. Whitney. And since a half dozen of the California 14’ers require serious skills/effort I’m guessing far less than a thousand have bagged them all.

How many people do you think may have climbed every (72?) fourteener in the continuous 48? Do you know any? I know a half dozen people who have climbed all 15 California 14’ers, but I haven’t heard of/met anyone whose climbed them all

Last edited by Hyadventure on Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.

All of California's 14er's? If you want a guess, I'd say its easily over 1,000, probably a few thousand.

It also depends on what you consider a 14,000 ft peak in the Sierra Nevada. I never thought Poleonium was really a peak, but just a bump next to the v-notch on the Palisade's ridgeline. Starlight in sometimes considered questionable, and Mt. Muir might be considered insignificant, too. As for the full list (including those above) the only one I haven't done is Mt. Russell; gotta drag my butt up into the Whitney Basin area and knock it off one of these days.

Sierra Ledge Rat wrote:When I moved to Colorado, I started looking for climbing partners. I met one guy who said:

"I've climbed every single peak in the state of Colorado."

I was duly impressed, but had difficulty believing him.

"You've climbed EVERY SINGLE PEAK in the state of Colorado?" I asked incredulously.

He explained that he started climbed as a kid and worked a s climbing guide.

"Yup, I've climbed every single peak in Colorado," he confirmed.

"WOW! THAT'S AMAZING! There must be THOUSANDS of peaks in Colorado!"

He looked at me, puzzled, and responded:

"No, there are only fifty-four."

============================

I just don't understand the 14er thing obsession. Did you know that 14,000 feet is 4,267.2 meters?

So why don't you all just say that you're climbing all the 4,267.2 meter peaks?

(a) Bob Martin did climb every single 14er, 13er, 12er, and possibly 11er with 300 feet of prom in Colorado, and did the same for all peaks in AZ of at least 9K height, 300' of prom. He climbed over 5,000 peaks total. He did a few peaks in surrounding states but nowhere near the dedication that he showed in CO and AZ, his two home states. He started climbing in his late 40s. I met him when he was about 80, and we did some hikes together. He died in 2008, age 86. He was truly an amazing person and a nice man.

(b) Because 14,000 is a nice round number . Similarly, for those who like the 8000m peaks, why not ask them why they're climbing the 26,240-ft peaks?

Mike Garratt, Bob Packard, Mark Nicholls also have huge peak counts. Garratt is close to finishing the CO 11ers and 10ers and has climbed many lower peaks as well. Ken Nolan is just in the process of adding his peaks to LOJ, but is also close to finishing the CO 11ers.

The Contiguous US 14ers list is a can of worms. The peaks that make the list have varied too much over the years. A number of people have finished the list as it existed at the time they finished.

The problem comes from the concept of "rank." In most of the western US, a peak is considered ranked if it has 300 ft of prominence. This standard has been around for many decades in CO and has spread to other states.

CA has 12 ranked 14ers, but 15 "traditional" 14ers. Polemonium, Thunderbolt, and Starlight are "traditional" but not ranked.

CO is slightly more complicated. There are 53 ranked 14ers. That includes Challenger, which was named more recently than the others and thus was not included on the "traditional" list. The 54 "traditional" 14ers include North Maroon and El Diente, which are not actually ranked. Most people who claim to have climbed all of CO's 14ers since the time that Challenger was named and the concept of rank was understood would make sure they climb all 55 peaks covered by the ranked + traditional list. However, in earlier years, people would have claimed to have climbed all the CO 14ers after completing just the traditional 54.

A list of people who have submitted their names to the Colorado Mountain Club as having finished the CO 14ers (without any way of knowing which version of the list they finished) can be found here:
http://www.cmc.org/infopages/14ers%20Master_Nov2008.pdfScrolling to the bottom reveals 1346 names as of last Fall. There are undoubtedly many more people who have finished but don't know that the CMC keeps these records and that they can submit their names.

The list of 14ers in WA is the most problematic component in trying to list the 14ers of the Contiguous US. Rainier's high point is Columbia Crest. However, Liberty Cap has almost 500 ft of prominence and is thus also ranked. By standards in common use today, a list of ranked 14ers in the Contiguous US includes 2 peaks in WA -- Columbia Crest and Liberty Cap. Others still don't consider Liberty Cap a separate peak. The number of people who have completed all the Contiguous 14ers before Liberty Cap was included is larger than the number of people who have completed the version of the list that includes Liberty Cap. Some of the people who have climbed all of the 67 ranked 14ers in the Contiguous US have not climbed the 3 hard unranked CA 14ers -- including me. That diminishes the accomplishment in some people's minds, including my own.

The link given above by sarah.simon to Brian Kalet's list here on SP shows both the ranked and unranked Contiguous US 14ers. Ranked 14ers have a number in the "Rank" column and unranked 14ers don't.

Sierra Ledge Rat wrote:"Yup, I've climbed every single peak in Colorado," he confirmed.

"WOW! THAT'S AMAZING! There must be THOUSANDS of peaks in Colorado!"

He looked at me, puzzled, and responded:

"No, there are only fifty-four."

Had an amusing conversation like this myself - climber at a gathering in Colorado asked me how many 14K peaks I'd climbed and I said something like "I don't know... sixty or so, maybe?" He had a dumbfounded look on his face for a moment or two, and then told me that this was impossible....

(a) Bob Martin did climb every single 14er, 13er, 12er, and possibly 11er with 300 feet of prom in Colorado, and did the same for all peaks in AZ of at least 9K height, 300' of prom. He climbed over 5,000 peaks total. He did a few peaks in surrounding states but nowhere near the dedication that he showed in CO and AZ, his two home states. He started climbing in his late 40s. I met him when he was about 80, and we did some hikes together. He died in 2008, age 86. He was truly an amazing person and a nice man.

(b) Because 14,000 is a nice round number . Similarly, for those who like the 8000m peaks, why not ask them why they're climbing the 26,240-ft peaks?[/quote]

What's the technically hardest summit in CO by its easiest route? Lizard Head?

Not a chance. Lizard Head is only 5.8 and three pitches.

Several of the Dinosaur National Monument Peaks still haven't been climbed and the ones that have been climbed are far harder than Lizard Head. Steamboat Rock only has a "soft rank", but is 5.10+ A2+ and six pitches via it's easiest route.

Peak 7071 is probably harder than Lizard Head, but apparently no one has found out. Here is an album of the peak:

Snowslogger wrote:(a) Bob Martin did climb every single 14er, 13er, 12er, and possibly 11er with 300 feet of prom in Colorado, and did the same for all peaks in AZ of at least 9K height, 300' of prom. He climbed over 5,000 peaks total. He did a few peaks in surrounding states but nowhere near the dedication that he showed in CO and AZ, his two home states. He started climbing in his late 40s. I met him when he was about 80, and we did some hikes together. He died in 2008, age 86. He was truly an amazing person and a nice man.

(b) Because 14,000 is a nice round number . Similarly, for those who like the 8000m peaks, why not ask them why they're climbing the 26,240-ft peaks?

Sounds like OCD to me! I have done all the 14ers in Washington though [/quote]

Yes, there may be a touch of OCD. I may have some of it, too, when it comes to lists.

People tell me back in the 70s when he was "younger" (e.g. in his 50s), he and his pals would drive into some area, then climb every single peak visible from their vantage point in one long weekend, then repeat the process in a new place.

Climbing "all" the peaks is an impossibility, but Bob sure did push the margin.